By Ruel S. De Vera, Associate Editor
Sunday Inquirer Magazine
HAVING lived in the metro my entire life, I have a completely different understanding of fiestas. Here, fiestas are almost invisible affairs, palpable only to people who are involved in the parish church. For the rest of the barangay, the fiesta is marked exclusively by the colored (and, notably) recycled plastic flags hanging above the streets. There’s no open house where people can just drop in and eat to their heart’s content. There are no big gatherings. In fact, if you don’t go to church, you can go on completely unaware that there is a fiesta at all.
But within the church, everything revolves around the fiesta, in a way that can only be rivaled by Christmas and Easter. In that sense, it becomes a purely religious event, no longer attached to any social or civic significance.
As mentioned earlier, fiestas are a big deal to those heavily involved in church affairs. This begins with the parish priest (who will be in the shiniest stole combination for the fiesta mass) down to the lay ministers (who will roll out the brand new barong tagalogs for this occasion, so heavily starched the shirts will probably stay standing on their own) to the foot soldiers of the choir (new arrangements and new songs) and us the altar boys.
Yes, you can lower that eyebrow. I was an altar boy at my parish church for five years, from the time I was 13 to the time I was 18. It will be a shock to people who met me in college and beyond, but I took my altar duties pretty seriously and (gasp) even pondered entering the seminary.
Luckily, that little catastrophe never happened, but serving Mass was a major part of my routine for years, and the fiesta was the biggest deal of all. Aside from the fact that the new soutanes were unveiled, there were a lot of processions to attend complete with the Cross, candles and even the incense burner (now that is a difficult piece of equipment to get acquainted with). At the end of every procession was yet another Mass and a good buffet.
But that was pretty much it. Sometimes, there would be a marching band, but that was rare. Otherwise, the fiesta spirit would be fleeting and nearly invisible, fading away like the sound of the church bells tolling.
For more insights, inquisitions and incredible fiesta photos, check out the Sunday Inquirer Magazine’s May 4 issue.
